The present invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of Echinacea plant, botanically known as Echinacea purpurea, and hereinafter referred to by the name ‘Milkshake’.
The new Echinacea plant is a product of a planned breeding program conducted by the Inventor in IJsselstein and Zuidwolde, The Netherlands. The objective of the breeding program is to create new Echinacea cultivars with attractive inflorescence form and floret coloration.
The new Echinacea originated from a cross-pollination in 2004 by the Inventor in IJsselstein, The Netherlands of a proprietary selection of Echinacea purpurea identified as code number Ec 302-16, not patented, as the female, or seed, parent with a proprietary selection of Echinacea purpurea identified as code number Ec 204-01, not patented, as the male, or pollen, parent. The new Echinacea was discovered and selected by the Inventor as a single flowering plant from within the progeny of the stated cross-pollination grown in a controlled greenhouse environment in Zuidwolde, The Netherlands in July, 2006.
Asexual reproduction of the new Echinacea plant by micropropagation a controlled greenhouse environment in Enkhuizen, The Netherlands since February, 2007, has shown that the unique features of this new Echinacea plant are stable and reproduced true to type in successive generations.